Just Made a Coed Team? Here’s What a Female Cheerleader Can Expect (in GIFs)

It’s common knowledge‚ cheerleaders are predominately female. Although there is a growing number of boys joining teams every year, chances are you started out cheering on an all-girls team and have been on one ever since. Because of this, joining a coed team should be exciting! With men on your squad, stunts get stronger and routines get much more dynamic, meaning that your cheer career is about to be taken to a higher level of skill and expertise. That’s not all that’s about to change though. If you’ve just landed a spot on your first coed team, you’re about to experience a lot of firsts, and it’s okay to feel a little bit anxious. So, if your curiosity is growing larger by the day of what’s to come once the season starts, here are four GIFs that explain it all: Like an animal encountering a threat, you might get a little territorial. [Source: Giphy] Let’s face it‚ boys aren’t the only competitive ones! Cheerleaders are competitive by nature, so you might launch into territorial-mode if you feel challenged to prove yourself. Being on a team with boys might mean that you get moved from your normal spot as a base or get bumped from tumbling, which can make you frustrated. Or perhaps your team just recruited its first boy and your coach places him in your stunt group; if he gets praised for fixing a stunt you’ve been struggling with, don’t get defensive‚ he’s supposed to be a good base! Calm down, wild child, and realize your wolf pack has room to grow in members. There will be a dramatic shift involved. [Source: Giphy] Literally. The drama that you’ve encountered on an all-girls team will be replaced with a whole new kind of team drama‚ most likely one of the dating variety. That might not make your coach too stoked to hear, but working so closely with each other every day makes dating one another almost inevitable. Even if no dating occurs as a result of coed coexistence, the cattiness that happens on an all-girls team will drop drastically‚ or cease altogether. Ain’t nobody have time for that! Yet, you come to realize the boys give you fairy dust. [Source: Giphy] If you’re a flyer, then anticipate reaching all new heights! You’ve never been thrown like this before! This is advantageous in several ways, mostly because you have more time to twist, turn, and kick in the air. You will also come to find that their basket is a lot easier to trust as you fall back down. And after a few months, your cheer BFF is now a BBFF (boy best friend forever). [Source:Giphy] No matter what happens‚ your team lost a competition, you’ve had a bad day, you’ve messed up on a test in school‚ a hug from your male cheer best friend makes everything better. Or perhaps you just won a big competition and need to do a running jump hug on someone. Or maybe the long bus ride home requires a human body pillow to nap on. Expect a lot of smiles, surprises, and silliness from being on a coed team. And, to think that you were ever nervous about joining! What else can a cheerleader expect when joining a coed team? What was your experience during your first season? Share your stories in the comments below!